EVENTS

Sikh feelings are hurt

The feelings of religious people are so sensitive I wonder how they manage to get through the day without having a breakdown. Now it is the Sikhs who are objecting to comedian Jay Leno who made fun of Mitt Romney’s wealth by showing a picture of the Golden Temple of Amritsar, their holiest shrine, as his summer home.

The Indian government is pandering to the Sikhs.

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi told reporters: “It is quite unfortunate and quite objectionable that such a comment has been made after showing the Golden Temple.”

Mr Ravi said the Indian embassy would take up the matter with the US state department, the Press Trust of India reported.

Sikhs in the US have started an online petition. One of the signers says: “Jay Leno must apologize and promise not to make any direct or oblique references to Sikhs or their places of worship.” Meanwhile, Ravi added, “Freedom does not mean hurting the sentiments of others.”

They are both wrong. People do not have the right to not be offended by the speech of others. The sooner religious people realize that, the better.

Should we be encouraged by the recent upsurge in this kind of thing? The Muslims appear to have kicked it off and now every other religion, presumably jealous of their apparent ability to grab lots of attention, and hand wringing from the PC brigade, is jumping on the bandwagon. However, does it not prove how painfully aware they all are that their religion is nothing but a load of stuff that was made up in the days when people just didn’t know any better?

Maybe an amendment to the UN charter of human rights to clearly state that everyone has a basic human right to be offended. Then if anybody says something you don’t like you can quite happily fume to yourself knowing you’re exercising one of your basic human rights. Problem solved. You can even write to your MP or local newspaper if that makes you feel better.